By Adi Angyu
Over 2000 skilled health workers out of the 4000 trained by the Bauchi State Government have defaulted in their bond made with the state government.
The State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Halima Mukkadas, revealed this while answering questions from newsmen during a one-day Journalist round table organized by Bauchi State Accountability Mechanism for Maternal and Newborn Health (BaSAM), on the state 2015 Health Budget scorecard held at Nigerian Union of Journalist (NUJ) Secretariat in Bauchi.
“The 4000 that were sponsored and given automatic employment by the state government were under a bond to serve after graduation but unfortunately 2000 of them absconded without serving their bond,” she said.
The commissioner added that the state is among the six states in the North-East that will benefit from $125 million Word Bank Health Credit facility over the period of five years.
According to the Commissioner, states that will benefit from the credit facility are Yobe, Borno, Adamawa, Bauchi, Taraba and Gombe states. She added that Yobe and Borno will get the lion share while Bauchi, Gombe and Taraba will get the least.
She said Bauchi will get $24 million and added that the funds will be channel directly to the hospitals, saying the disbursement of the funds will be based on performance of each hospitals. The government will have minimal interference on the disbursement.
“Bauchi is currently hosting Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from Borno and Yobe states affected by insurgency and because the health facility in the state is overstretched so we need the funds to be able to build more health facilities across the state.
Also speaking, the Secretary of BaSAM, Mrs. Bulak Afsa, called on the state government to always publish budget Information on time as well as ensure the timely release of budget funds for capital project.
She also enjoined the state government to ensure prompt release of funds of over 70 per cent as well as adequate budget allocation to health sector.
